Heart on your Sleeves
by Twila Star
Summary: Boomer, with his heart on his sleeves, finds Buttercup with her heart locked deep within her chest. When his heart can reach out closer than someone else's heart that is locked away, will they find company for each other?


**This is a one shot for my favorite couple! I hope it is better than it sounds...**

* * *

Boomer wiped at his eyes, and threw away the last of Alexis's pictures. The two 16 year olds have just broken up. It was surprising to Boomer, but apparently his brothers saw it.

'You "fell in love with her" too fast! There was no way she could have actually liked you.' Brick had said.

'Yea, you have your "heart on your sleeves",' Butch commented too. Boomer thought about it, and realized he did, but that wasn't his fault. He couldn't help who he liked. Boomer closed the lid of the trash can and walked over to his closet and pulled out his coat. He walked towards the door while pulling on his jacket. He opened the door, and he saw white flakes falling through the air, looking like soft cotton balls cutting through the gray sky. He looked up at the snow, still inside, the light gone from his eyes.

"I'm going out." He said to whoever would listen in the house, then stepped out, crunching on the fluffy looking snow.

It was around Christmas time, so school was out. People were all over town trying to find gifts early, so prices were still affordable. Sprakling lights were hangong on trees and winding around signs. A person shuffled past Boomer for the 12th time, so he took a turn to the city park. The trees here where thin and had no leaves, but the lights took the attention away from the bare trees. A few winter time couples were sitting on the benches, snuggling and staying warm, though they could do that at the nearest bakery. Boomer didn't know why they needed to be outside to try to stay warm.

Bakery.

Boomer continued his path across the park, to the busy sidewalk on the other side. He continued with the water-like flow of people til he saw a bakery that was about to close, which meant, empty. He shifted slightly and entered the shop, away from the snow. There were a few people waiting for their order to be finished.

"We're closed!" A man yelled, walking past the door to the back. The cashier looked up, looking like he just noticed him. Boomer knew the story for this.

"But sir, I saw your lights still on, and my girlfriend, she's leaving for christmas, and I wanted to get her something special before she left. She loved your chocolate tarts and I was hoping I could get two more to share for christmas." Boomer lied. The cashier's look softened, and all the girls in the room silently "aw'd". Boomer smirked in his head while keeping the pleading facade on his face.*~*~

~*~*Boomer walked out the store with a small box with two warm chocolate tarts in it. The owner didn't allow him to get the tarts, and said no exceptions, no one orders when it closing time. Two girls that aw'd and were still in line, boought the tarts for him and scolded the owner. Boomer thanked them and left. Boomer didn't know why, but chocolate always made him feel better when he goes through a break up.

His brothers thought it was cause he's girly, Boomer thought. He opened the box when he heard a choked sob. He closed the box again and looked around. He heard another soft sob from the shadowed gap between the bakery he came out of and the chinese resturant neighboring. Boomer peaked in the ally and his heightened sences immidiantly aided his sight in the dimly light narrow path.

He saw a small frame of a girl hunched over, sitting on a knocked over trash can. He then another sob, as her frame shook. He walked foward into the hallway and placed his warm box down.

"Hey-" He started, when his vision was completely adjusted to the dark, and saw the brunette powerpuff. She looked up at him, her green eyes peircing through the darkness, showing her anger and hurt. He would have just left his enemy in the damp ally if he hadn't noticed the hurt.

"What do you want, rowdyruff!" She barked out, saying rowdyruff as if it was poison. He didn't take it personally, he said powerpuff the same way when him or his brothers talked about them.

"What're you doing here, crying in a place like this?" Boomer demanded. Buttercup began wiping at her eyes visiously.

"I'm not, you dumb blonde!" Buttercup retorted. Boomer ignored the pang in his chest and styreotype remark. "What're _you_ doing here?" She asked. Boomer sighed.

"My girlfriend broke up with me and I wanted some chocolate so I came to this bakery for thier chocolate tart." Boomer breathed out. He kinda surprised himself that he told her. Was this what his brothers meant by having his heart on his sleeves?

"Really? Why'd she break up with _you_?" Buttercup asked.

"You sound surprised." Boomer said, with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, yeah, I mean, your the nicest rowdyruff out there!" She said. "Well, come on, tell me why she broke up with you." She insisted.

"She... My brothers said I fell in love too fast, so there was no way she could actually like me. Alexis sure didn't give me a reason." Boomer said, then pauseds a bit. "Do you know what 'Heart on your sleeves' mean?" He asked her. She looked up, looking like she was already in deep thought.

"Um... I think it means, you're an open book. You're more sensitive, gulliable, and fall in love quickly without thinking twice." She reasoned. Boomer looked down in thought.

"Um, so, why are you here, again?" Boomer tried again after a few moments of silence. Buttercup looked at him in hard concentration, Boomer kinda shrunk back from her gaze. Then it looked as though a little thing in her mind broke and her eyebrows rose and tears came out again. Boomer paniced and came closer to her.

"D-don't cry! Sorry-" He started.

"My boyfriend dumped me... He said My heart was too deep in my chest... and he couldn't reach it... That I was too conservative with my feelings and felt like I didn't love him. But whatever. I didn't. I don't love anyone so easily." She said, turning her head to the side, wiping her tears. Buttercup normally wouldn't tell anyone what she felt. But Boomer told her, so why shouldn't she? He made it easier to tell things, because he's comfortable doing it first.

"Well, thats what he meant. You don't let others in so easily, and have trouble telling others how you feel. Your heart in your chest." Boomer said. Buttercup looked up at him. Boomer shifted under her gaze she placed on him once more. When she still hadn't said anything, he walked over and sat on the empty part of the trash can next to her.

"I think us heart people should stick together. We can learn a thing or two from each other. I can learn not to fall for people so easily, and you could learn to unlock that heart in your little treasure chest." He said, poking her chest. She looked down at the finger as it pulled away as if it forgot to leave something behind. When she looked up again, Boomer saw her face was tinted pink.

"Are you ok?" Boomer asked, and she sniffed.

"Yea..." She mummbled. Boomer noticed she had a thin jacket, wet on the shoulders from the falling snow, probably wetting her to the skin. Boomer took off his navy blue jacket, revealing a sky blue sweater, and gently pulled the jacket over her small frame.

"Better?" He asked. She look at him with a strange expression. Boomer noticed how the navy blue sweater so feircely contridicted her jade green eyes in a good way. The snow slightly wetting her hair to her face, cupping around her cheeks. Her blush of cold over her button nose, and Boomer unconciously lifted his hand and pushed a wet clump of hair from her cheek and wiped the melting snow drop from her warm cheek. Her face went red and she stood up.

"What're you doing?!" She asked, slightly paniced. Boomer blushed when he realized what he did.

"Sorry!" He mummbled putting his head down. "You were just staring at me, so I stared at you, and I just... got caught up..." He mummbled. Buttercup looked at him curioulsy then said, "What'd you get caught up in?"

He looked back up to her and said, "Well... everything about you... You're so much stronger then me and not afraid to show it, and you're real naturally pretty, and you might be sick so, that created a blush-like tint on your face and-"

"You think I'm pretty?" She blushed. He blushed too, and stood up.

"I'm sorry, this must be horrible for you, I mean you just got out of a break-up and I'm a rowdyruff, and I must be invading on your personal space, and-" Buttercup's laugh cut him off.

"You talk alot. It's fine, I... I think you're pretty cute... for a rowdyruff." She said shyly. He blushed and looked down. There was a little awkward silence before Boomer walked to the edge of the ally way. Buttercup was a little sad to see him leaving, but then he came back with a pink tinted box with the words _Downtown Bakery_ printed in cursive on the front.

"Um, I don't know if it's because I'm "in touch with my girl side" or whatever, but chocolate always makes me feel better after a break-up... so..." He opeed the box revealing two chocolate tarts. "Wanna share?" He asked shyly.

Buttercup smiled and sat back down on the garbage can. "ok." She said and he sat down next to her. They both took one and took a bite. Then smiled at each other because they took the bite at the same time. Two girls passed by the ally way they were in.

"Aw! its the boy who wanted the tarts for her girlfriend! Is that her?" One asked.

"Uh, I think so, they're both eating it, so cute." And they walked on.*~*~

~*~*Buttercup walked into her house feeling a thousand times better then when she left. They had stayed a while longer in the ally way after finishing thier snack, Boomer talking about stuff and Buttercup adding stuff in to his run-on sentences, but those were cute. She really felt like she could talk about anything with him and she did, actually, more than she thought she would. Like, how others see her strong but on the inside she doesn't feel strong enough. Or how she feels seperated from her sisters because she's not girly enough. Boomer eventually started his own run-on sentences about how he wasn't rowdy enough for his brothers.

They had eventually fallen asleep together, but a cold breeze woke them up 20 minutes later. That's when they said thier good-byes. She was sneaking through the darkness, trying to find the staircase while the lighting adjusted to her eyes, when they lights flicked on unceremoniously. Blossom was sitting in a chair near the lamp she flicked on.

"Where were you?" She asked, with a bite in her voice. Buttercup narrowed her eyes at her.

"I don't see why that's your business." she bit back. Blossom stood up.

"I'm your sister." She tried, calmly. "It's my family business."

"So, now I'm just business to you?" Buttercup asked.

"Oh, my- Buttercup! You-" She sighed. "I heard from Bubbles you broke up with your boyfriend. I just want to know if you did anything out of line because you were mad." Buttercup mulled over this and looked over Blossom's expression.

"I was near a bakery... Talking to a friend..." Buttercup smiled as she added that last part. Blossom visably relaxed.

"Oh, thats good, oral therapy. Which friend? Robin?" Blossom asked.

"Oh, its a new friend." Buttercup told her and started making her way to the stairs. "You wouldn't know 'em." Blossom shook her head.

"Buttercup, you know from Mitch and Ace and any others we don't know, that friends you make aren't always ones to be around. Now tell me who it is." Buttercup felt her face grow hot from Blossom's acusations. She didn't really care that Blossom said she didn't know how to choose friends, she didn't even care she referred to some of her buddies as bad choices, she didn't like that she suggested Boomer could potentially be a bad choice for a friend. Then Blossom gasped.

"Wait, Where'd you get that jacket?" Blossom asked. It was Buttercup's turn to gasp as she looked down to the navy blue jacket on her body, slightly wet from the snow.

"Uh, I... It was from my friend..."

"Wait, Boomer!?" Blossom gasped. Buttercup tsked, Blossom was always smart.

"Well, yeah! He's really nice and he talks to me and let me in and I let him in too! Cause he made me feel like it was safe so MH!" She said, sticking out her tounge at the last part, she was already mad she suggested Boomer's anything like Ace or Mitch. Blossom gasped.

"Buttercup, you can't be... You let him in? Like, talked about your emotions? You don't even do that with us!" Blossom complained, but Buttercup just nodded.

"He's more gentle, and he talks first. You guys try to make me talk about my feelings first." Blossom considered.

"He really is that special to you?" She asked, and Buttercup nodded her head. Blossom sighed.

"Go to bed." Buttercup went up the stairs.*~*~

~*~*In the morning, Buttercup heard a tapping at her window. She sat up, sleepy, and smiled widely. Boomer was floating there with a single neacklace with a heart at the end of the string.


End file.
